The Lost Heartsong
by NibbyMokers
Summary: Poor Erik... his heartsong is unknown... to even him! I mean, his dad has one... he just dances instead of sings it. It's as if he isn't supposed to be a penguin. Especially not an Emperor. Can Bo help Erik find his heartsong, wether it be singing, dancing... or swimming? And will Erik find his soul mate along the way?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 ~ No Heartsong?**

"What is a heartsong, class?"

The day had just begun. Ms Viola, the singing teacher, had asked the question, in her thick English accent, her daughter's flipper raised. The little chick knew almost everything.

"Bo, sweetie, let the others answer the question before you do, okay?" Ms Viola said gently. Bo nodded and put her flipper down. Another one rose in the back.

"Andrew?" said Ms Viola. All fluffy little heads turned to see. A small grey chick was standing there, shuffling his black feet nervously.

"It's a song that we hear in our hearts that we sing to get a mate?" he tried. Ms Viola nodded in approval.

"Yes, but what else?" she asked. A few more flippers shot up, the baby birds jumping up and down saying:

"Pick me, pick me!"

Ms Viola laughed.

"Bo." she said, pointing to her own chick. The little thing stepped forward.

"It's a song we hear inside that is our own, no two are the same, and it tells us who we truly are. We can't have help finding it, we have to find it by ourselves."

The whole class, even teacher, was stunned. Then they all erupted into clapping, for the teacher's child had described a heartsong perfectly.

"Yes, yes! Wonderful, very wonderful." Ms Viola stated. "Well done, sweetheart. Now, to find your heartsong..."

Bo giggled and stepped back to her spot. She looked around at her classmates. Some were really close friends: Erik, Atticus, Cass, Ada, Leo, Alice... She wondered what their heartsongs would be. Or what hers would be. She hoped it would be something nice and cute and fun, just like her. Wait, she heard something. Something small, a tiny voice singing a catchy little tune. Could it be...?

Suddenly, the whole class's flippers were up, waving in the air, the chicks shouting to get picked. Bo then realized they had heard their heartsongs. Ms Viola laughed at the fact that every single baby 'guin wanted to sing.

"Atticus." she said. The plump chick stepped forward.

"We callin' a comeback! I been here for years, rockin' my peers, puttin' suckers in fear. I'm gonna take this itty-bitty road by storm, and I'm just gettin' warm!"

Everyone clapped again for Atticus and his heartsong rap. It was something. Bo's classmates all raised their flipper again, but she didn't, knowing that her mother would pick her anyway.

"Um, how about Ada?" she said, picking the very small chick in the middle. She waddle to the front and raised her head confidently.

"It's been said and done, every beautiful thoughts been already sung, and I guess right now here's another one, so penguinaty will play on and on, with the best of 'em."

She stopped and looked at the teacher.

"That's all I heard so far." she said.

"Yes, thank you Ada. Very nice. Whose next?" Ms Viola asked as Ada hopped back to her spot. "Huh. Let's do Leo, Alice, then Cass, one after another."

Leo stepped forward and started to sing:

"You're insucure dunno what for. You're turning heads when you walk through the do-o-or, don't need make-up to cover up just the way that you are is eno-o-ough."

He stepped back as Alice, who was already at the front, sang:

"Bam, bam, bam, what I'd do to have you here here here. Bam, bam, bam, what I'd do to have you near near near. What I'd do to have you near."

The last one was Cass, and the class cleared a path for her as she came from the back to the front.

"This one is for the boys with the boomin' system top down AC with the coolin' system whe he come up in the club he be blazin' up got stacks on deck like he savin' up."

As she finished rapping, Atticus gave her googly eyes.

"Stupid boys." Bo muttered to herself, followed by a laugh.

"Bo, would you like to go?" Ms Viola asked. Bo nodded.

"Then Erik?" she asked, looking at him. He smiled as Ms Viola nodded.

"Yes, dear." she said. Bo took a deep breath and started to sing what she heard:

"I wanna dance and sing and dance with you but first tell me that you love me, yeah, tell me that I take your breath away so that we can dance and sing and dance some more."

Ms Viola smiled.

"That was beautiful, darling." she said. "Now Erik, get your tail feathers up here!"

The whole class laughed as the small chick waddled to the front.

"Um, mine is sort of a... ah, um..." he stuttered nervously. "I, uh, heard... this:

Hey, I just met you, and this is... crazy but here's my number so call me maybe."

He smiled a weak smile, followed by a weak laugh. Ms Viola nodded.

"That was cute, Erik." she said and gently pushed him back to his spot. "Now, we will learn how to-"

"Ms Viola." said a voice. The class turned to see Gloria standing there. "It's time for breakfast."

"BREAKFAST!" the class yelled in unison. Gloria giggled. Ms Viola looked at the sun.

"Oh, dear me, it is. Come on then, class." she said and led them to the cafeteria. Bo watched as Erik waddled up to his mother and said something with a worried look. Gloria looked a bit stunned.

"Bo." Cass said. She waddled up with Alice and Ada behind her. "Time to go."

"I know, I was just-"

"Stalking Erik and his mother?" Ada said in her strange way of talking. "That's, like, so not you. Ugh, come on, Bo, baby."

Bo turned to look at Erik once more, seeing he was crying. She shook her head and followed her friends. Then it hit her.

"He had been stuttering when he got up there." she stated. Her friends, including Leo and Atticus, turned to stare at her blankly.

"What?" Leo asked.

"Erik!" Bo said. "He had been stuttering! And that heartsong is taken. By Jonah. You know, French Accent Guy?"

Her friends started to understand now.

"So that means either Erik is bieng a trickster, or..." Alice said. Bo smiled and finished Alice's sentence:

"He has no heartsong."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 ~ It Ain't Dancing...**

"Erik!"

The chick turned, blue eyes filled with sadness.

"Yes?" he asked miserably. Bo waddled up to him and put a flipper on his back gently.

"What did you hear in your heart during class today?"

Erik sighed and slouched. The poor thing. His heart was broken. He had no song to sing. No song to call his heartsong. He couldn't believe that!

"Nothing." he said quietly. "Nothing at all."

"Well, at least you can sing!" Bo exclaimed.

Erik looked up, extremely confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you can sing and your dad can't. You have your mother's beautiful voice." Bo replied. Erik's eyes opened wide and a smile formed across his beak.

"Y-you think my voice is beautiful?"

"Of course. Don't you?"

"Well, not really, no..."

"It's amazing." Bo whispered. "But if you have no heartsong, what are you going to sing to attract a mate?"

Erik made a whimpering sound. "I don't know."

"Maybe..." Bo said. By the look on her face, Erik could tell she was having an epiphany.

"Maybe what?" Erik asked.

Bo smiled. Her golden eyes glinted.

"Maybe your heart_song _is a heart_dance." _she explained. Taking Erik by the flipper, she waddled across the ice to Mumble's cave where he taught dancing.

"So, what we, uh, are learning is to dance to the beat of your heartsong." Mumble told his class. They all nodded and whispered amongst each other. They were all adolescent 'guins, all of their fluffy down feathers were gone.

"Dad?" Erik said quietly. Mumble heard him, though, and turned to look at his son.

"Erik? What are you doing here?"

Erik shuffled nervously on the snowy ground.

"Uncle Mumble." Bo started, her English accent extremely thick, making all the females in Mumble's class make 'aw!' noises as she waddled up to Erik's father. "Erik didn't hear his..."

Her voice trailed off as she realized that an entire class of probably untrustworthy nearly-graduates were listening. She glanced at the, that back at Mumble.

"Please come with me?" she asked and waddled away with Erik behind her. Mumble was a bit confused but followed them.

"Mason, you're in charge." Mumble said as he made his way behind the chicks. A loud, deep voice yelled

"YEAH!"

as the trio left. They stopped at the edge of the territory, where everything they said was out of earshot. Bo turned to Mumble and finished her sentence:

"...heartsong."

Mumble was confused for a second, then realized what Bo meant. He looked at Erik, who was near tears. He went to his son and put him onto his feet, flippers holding him in a soothing way.

"Erik? Is that true?"

Erik nodded, his blue eyes lined with tear drops. Bo waddled up to the two and started tapping her feet.

"Maybe you could help him find his heartsong with _this_...?" she said, gesturing to her feet. Mumble nodded and started to dance. Erik looked up at his father in a surprised way. Then a smile formed, followed by little giggles. He hopped off of Mumble's feet and started to dance in the same pattern that Bo and Mumble were. It stayed that way for a few minutes, laughter making its way out of each one's beak, the snow starting to uncover ice because of all the tapping. Suddenly, Erik stopped. He shook his head. Bo stopped, as did Mumble. They all came closer to the sad little chick whose face was covered with his flippers.

"What's wrong?" Mumble asked his son. The chick looked up for enough time to say:

"It isn't dancing."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 ~ One Last Try...**

Bo waddled around, looking for her fellow classmates. She had grown up a bit, the top half of her body was covered in down, just like Mumble used to be. Her golden eyes were very bright and happy, as usual. Her good figure and black and white adult feathers were starting to show.

Bo didn't feel like she fit in anymore. One reason was because she was the only one in her class that had an English accent. There were many more, but all the other guin's her age comforted her about it.

There was still an unsolved case: Erik's heartsong. It wasn't a heartdance. It wasn't a heartbeatbox. It wasn't a heartopera or heartrap. It wasn't a heartpoem. What was it?

"Erik!" Bo said loudly as she waddled up to her best friend. Erik turned to face her. More of his adult feathers were showing than hers, but that was a common male thing. His blue eyes were filled with hope, but had the permanent sadness glint that had come when his heartsong wasn't heard.

"Yeah?" Erik responded, taking a few steps to get closer to her.

"I have an idea to see what your heartsong is." she said. Erik smiled and jumped slightly. He rushed past Bo to where the echoey canyon was.

"Heartyodeling!" he said, excitement flowing out of his beak as the words he spoke. He took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs:

_Yodelay-hee-hoo!_

_Yodelay-hee-hoo!_

_Yodelay-hee-hoo!_

_Yodelay-yodelay-yoo!_

Luckily, no-one was around to hear him yodel. Bo laughed as she made her way over to where he was.

"No." she said, still laughing. "That wasn't it."

Erik's smile faded as he heard what Bo had to say. He put his head down and sighed sadly.

"I guess I'm doomed, then." he said. He started to go back to his cave when Bo twirled him around and kissed him. It was a bit challenging to figure out before it happened, since the beaks got in the way. But it was possible. Erik was very surprised; it was reflected in his eyes. But soon, they closed and he enjoyed the moment while it lasted. He didn't know why she had done it, but she just had.

Bo finally pulled away. She stared into his eyes, his big blue eyes. Gold and blue. Such great colors, especially when they were together. She smiled and giggled. Erik had been smiling the whole time, and he managed to chuckle. He was surprised to find that her laugh and his sounded really sweet together. Sweet and melodic.

"What did you have in mind, Bo?" he asked in a whisper. Bo looked up at him, since he was just a bit taller than her.

"Come with me." she said in the same hushed tone. She waddled down to the water. Erik followed like a lovesick zombie.

"Jump in." Bo said, pointing a flipper at the water. Erik looked at the water, then back at Bo.

"Why?" he asked, obviously confused.

"Just do it."

"Will I get another kiss?"

"Maybe."

Erik looked at the water once more before jumping in. He popped back up a few seconds later and stared at Bo.

"Now what?" he asked. Bo just started to sing.

_The morning, cold and raining, dark before the dawn could come_

_How long in twilight waiting, longing for the rising sun_

_Oh-oh, oooh-whoa_

___Oh-oh, oooh-whoa_

Erik heard these words and started to swim around in little circles.

"Whoa, what's going on?" he asked to no-one in particular. Strangely, his swimming felt like it was coming from somewhere inside of him...

_You came like crashing thunder, breaking through these walls of stone  
_

_You came with wide-eyed wonder into all this great unknown_

_Oh-oh, oooh-whoa_

_Oh-oh, oooh-whoa_

__Erik glanced worriedly at Bo, whose eyes were closed as she swayed to the beat of the song. She kept singing, not hearing him. The worried look eventually turned to joy as he swam in a synchronized pattern. Diving and flips and jumping and floating.

"Erik!" Bo said. That startled Erik and he shot himself out of the water onto the ice, sliding until he was at Bo's feet.

"Yes?" he asked in a quiet, squeaky voice. Bo laughed.

"What did you feel in your heart while you were swimming?" she asked, looking at him hopefully. Erik stood up and faced the water.

"I felt..." he started. "I felt..." He racked his brain for the right words. He turned to Bo.

"I felt the moves."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 ~ Twisted and Contorted**

Bo felt like a winner. They had finally found Erik's heartsong. Technically, it was a heart_swim, _but it was close enough. She felt as if the mystery of the century had been solved.

_"I am a champion, my fri-end. _

_And we'll keep on fightin' till the e-end!"_

Bo turned to look at Erik, who was singing behind her. She smiled as he waddled up to her to sing the last sentence:

_"But without you, my light wouldn't have shined."_

Bo giggled and kissed him again. She pulled back and turned to the rest of the colony and spread her flippers out, sighing contentedly.

"We did it, TwinkleToes." she said, her golden eyes glinting with happiness. Erik nodded and laughed.

"Yes we did." he responded. He glanced at the new elder, Patrick, who took over when Noah died. "I wonder what Patrick will think?"

Bo looked at Erik, obviously confused. "What?"

Erik repeated himself. "Maybe he will kick me out. I mean, a penguin whose heartsong is _swimming_? I should just call myself the Twisted and Contorted Son of TwinkleToes and FancyTunes."

Bo looked at Patrick and nodded.

"Let's go find out now." she said. Erik shook his head in disbelief and stared at her as she waddled away.

"What?" he asked. "Are you crazy?"

Bo nodded.

"I guess I must be." she replied, not turning around.

Erik groaned and followed her, wondering why she was about to put his happiness at risk.

"What?"

Bo winced and slowly looked at Erik, who was glaring at her.

"This was a bad idea-" he said before Patrick cut him off.

"WHAT?" he yelled. His deep brown eyes bore into Erik's, which made the young male whimper.

"You heard me." Bo said, cocking her hips sassily. Patrick glared at her and rolled his eyes.

"I did, but that's impossible." he stated. Erik groaned again.

_Stupid Bo. _he thought. _Why did she need to ask? _

"Nuh-uh!" Bo snapped back. "I saw it with my own eyes." To emphasize her point, she waved her flipper in front of her eyes.

"What's going on?" said a familiar voice. All three 'guins turned to see Mumble standing there with Gloria behind him. They both looked quite confused.

"We just told Patrick that-" Bo started, but Erik cut her off by shoving his flipper in front of her beak.

"Yeeeeaaaaaaahhh-it's not important." he said with a nervous smile.

"Erik." Gloria said firmly. "What did you tell Patrick?"

Erik sighed and glared at Bo once more, who was trying to bite his flipper. He took it away from her beak and looked at them all before jumping off the high ice chunk they were on. Gloria and Bo both gasped in a high pitched squeal and looked down to try and spot him. Mumble groaned.

"Crazy kid." he said and tried to look for his son, too. Then they heard splashing.

"Bo!" they heard. It was Erik's voice. Bo giggled and copied Erik's crazy movement, almost scaring the life out of Gloria.

"Bodicea!" she cried. When she realized Bo was where Erik was, she sighed and climbed down the glacier thing with Mumble and Patrick behind her. When the got to where the two were. Bo was gently swaying to her song while Erik was swimming in a synchronized pattern.

"This is outrageous!" Patrick roared. "No penguin here while I'm in charge is going to have a heartswim instead of a heartsong. Exile!"

Erik and Bo both stopped and turned to face the elder with tears in their eyes.

"What?" the both said in unison. Patrick growled.

"Leave. Now." he said to Erik, pointing to the icy wasteland around them.

"No." Gloria protested. "No!"

"He is a twisted and contorted young 'guin, he needs to get out. Be gone!" Patrick said, a little to fast for them to process. Mumble held Gloria back as she tried to bite Patrick.

"Oh, please, Patrick, can't you just cut him some slack? He comes from a... a messed-up family."

Gloria glared at Mumble. "Excuse me?" she said sassily. Mumble sighed.

"Not yours, Gloria, mine." he said. He looked at Patrick, who was fuming. "Erik is my son, and we all know how messed up I am. I can't sing, I still have my fluffy down, and my eyes are blue." he said. "I have wierd markings on my flippers and my legs, and I tap dance. Erik is this way because of me."

"Dad?" Erik said, looking at his father. "You aren't messed up. You're-"

"EXILE!" Patrick yelled, loud enough for the whole colony to hear.

"NO!" the whole colony yelled back. Patrick blushed and glared at Mumble.

"You go with him." he said, despite the protesting from the other penguins.

"Mumble!" Gloria cried. Tears ran down her cheeks. "Erik!"

"Erik!" Bo said, on the edge of crying. All her time of trying to find his heartsong was wasted. Her soul mate was leaving, never to come back again. Or was he?


	5. Chapter 5

**Epilogue **

Bo waddled around, her usually happy golden eyes filled with sorrow. Her 'boyfriend' left a few months ago, and now she was just a lonely soul looking for her best friend again.

"You got me, Erik." she said, talking to herself. "You had me falling for you. I miss you."

"I missed you, too."

Bo turned on her heels to see a handsome young guin with no down feathers and bright blue eyes standing there, flippers open for a hug. Bo smiled and ran into his flippers.

"Erik!" she cried happily. Erik laughed.

"Bo." he said quietly, just loud enough for her to hear. When she looked up at him he kissed her, long and softly. They both pulled away and gazed into each other's eyes, happiness filling their hearts.

"I love you, TwinkleToes." Bo said. She had so many questions, like _How did you get back in here? Why are you so handsome? Where's Mumble? How much did you miss me?_ but she decided not to ask him just yet. She stood in his grip, watching his beak for an answer to appear from it.

"I love you too, FancyTunes." he responded, chuckling. Bo squealed happily and looked him in the eye, starting to sing.

"You get me and I get you together there's really nothing we can't do."

Erik smiled and joined in the song.

"I got your back, and you got mine too yeah you get me and I'm..."

They both stood back so they could make a heart out of their beak and chests like most penguins did when they found their significant other.

"Pretty sure that I get you."

Bo finished the song and held the last note, staring into Erik's eyes. Erik suddenly jumped to the side, splashing her with water.

"Erik!" Bo complained.

"What?" Erik said playfully. "C'mon, gimme a beat."

Bo smiled.

"I wanna stay up all night and jump around until we see the sun..."

Erik heard those words and started to swim-dance to the song. The moves came from his heart, his large, beating heart. He smiled and jumped up into the air, feeling the warmth of the sun on his feathers. They had solved his heartsong mystery, and he had found his soul mate. That year was a year he would never forget.


End file.
